clock help

[Dreadpoet]

I have a wall clock (distant cousin to grandfather clock) that I need to wire to be able to turn on and off during the show as the characters make ongoing comments about the time on the clock. The clock has one AA battery for the time and one AA battery for the pendulum. I only have big box stores and local radio shack for parts. I have not worked with small voltage DC devices before so I need a little help on best configuration. I thought to use doorbell wire and solder it to the corresponding contact points on the clock and bring them out to a AA battery pack with some sort of switch between….tried it…didn’t seem to work that well. Will a 1.5V converter work? any advice?

[kicknargel]

This may be going way too far, but I once did a show where the clock had to hit the right time every 15 minutes. The genius ME soldered the hands of the clock to two gobos in an indexing Twin Spin to create a DMX controllable clock. We programmed the console with a cue that ran the hands close to the next key point, which we ran a little fast to make sure it got there, and then a short cue to hit the right spot at the right moment. I'm sure no one in the audience every stopped to think about how it was done.

As far as your setup, I'd guess that you're getting voltage drop through all the wire and such. Can you meter the voltage at both ends and see what you're getting?

Also, there may be more folks with lots of electronical knowledge in the lighting forum.

[Dreadpoet]

wow..go ME ...good idea on voltage check.

[JChenault]

I'm confused as to what you need to do.
Do you need the clock to hit a certain time at points on the show, or to be able to turn it on / off at various times?
If you need it to hit a certain time - do you want to see the hands move, or do you have a blackout to hide that.

[Dreadpoet]

I will set the correct time in setup...start clock at top of show, stop at intermission, start at beginning of act two. The clock (and thus the play) just needs to go in real time minus intermission and/or late curtain.. The over easy way would be to take batteries in and out. I want a switch to turn on and off. In reading my first post I see your confusion.

[cpf]

If the inconvenience of taking the clock down/apart to remove the batteries is the issue, you could just drill a hole in an accessible location and install a toggle switch and reroute one of the wires going to the battery holder through the switch.

[Dreadpoet]

which is what i was going to do...the question is what type of wire/solder...will a battery pack of 8 batteries routed to the 2 sets of terminals be too much/not enough considering a 10ft run of cable and the clock only asks for 2 batteries...would it easier/better to get a 1.5v converter and split to both terminals...just looking for more feedback.

[DuckJordan]

Try using a dc transformer (wall wart) plugged into a dimmer. When its on the clock runs when off it stops.

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[Chris15]

The average clock runs a few years on a single battery.
By deduction it's current draw must be negligible...

DO NOT increase the voltage, you'll fry the poor thing.
If it's a battery each for pendulum and hands then get 2 single cell AA battery holders, 1 DPST or DPDT switch and run each positive wire through the switch and into the clock mechanism. Connect negative wires directly.
This may be a good place to use a dummy battery rather than soldering to existing battery connections...